The first week of December marks one of the largest national pharmacy conventions each year. The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists took over New Orleans this year to provide opportunities to present research, network with colleagues, and recruit some of the nation's best new pharmacists for a competitive group of programs called residencies. Residency programs offer advanced-level training leading to more specialized practitioners, much like medical residencies.

Fagen Pharmacy is in its first year of offering a residency program in partnership with Purdue University, so Sarah Kennedy and Brian Heckman traveled to New Orleans to begin recruiting for next year's resident. We met several great candidates from Indiana and across the country - Rhode Island to Washington State! We also had the opportunity to network with pharmacists all along the spectrum of practice models from all over the country. We discussed improvements in patient safety, ideas for new services and even signed a petition to recognize pharmacists as providers for Medicare.

The practice of pharmacy is a rapidly evolving world that is ever-focused on individual patient care and advocacy. Fagen Pharmacy is committed to being on the forefront of this evolution by undertaking this residency program to advance our own clinical services. The ASHP Midyear meeting this year was a great experience to empower us as pharmacists to take the lead in improving our nation's healthcare.